I have a customer that had a retaining wall (approx. 29' half circle bed) put in, in front of her house about 2 years ago. It seems that in one corner, a good 7-9 inches of the soil/mulch has washed/eroded away. What could have caused this? It was a friend that put this in, when he was putting it in, someone told him that he had to put PVC in for drainage or the wall would collapse in 5 years. Needless to say he didnt listen and it looks like the wall could very well collapse in about that time. What kind of drainage is needed for a retaining wall (approx. 3'-4' high), and is it true that when you have a bed near your house it has to be a certain distance away from the siding? I was just trying to help lead her in the direction she needed to go to solve this problem. She just wanted to place 4 pvc pipes in the bed that could drain any excess water from the bed. Will this work? I know that I am babbling, any help or ideas would be appreciated. I am going to try and take some pictures to try to give some visual aid to my dilemna...thanks.

Ron :dizzy:

MarcusLndscp

06-02-2005, 10:31 PM

It seems as if he completely ignored one of the most important parts of a wall and that's drainage. If he skimped on that, chances are he skimped on the base as well. Pics will be of great help but it sounds like you've got yourself a good old fashioned cobb job. A 3-4' tall wall needs to have proper base and backfill and that's where you need to start again to make this situation right. No, pipes laying on the ground won't help her at all. Post pics though it will give us a better visual of what is actually happening.
Mark

RLS2005

06-02-2005, 11:23 PM

Thanks alot Mark, I will definitely get pics ASAP. From the limited info that you have, do you think that to solve the problem..is it something that you will have to pretty much have to start from scratch to fix?